Tom Hanks seemed heated up about the “Nepo baby” controversy during an interview with Portal (video via The Sun, below) published earlier this week.
A “nepo baby,” short for “nepotism baby,” is a lively, if condescending, term that refers to the children of celebrities who are now famous in part because of their parents’ fame. The topic reached boiling point in late December when New York Magazine declared 2022 the “Year of the Nepo Baby.”
Hanks spoke to Portal about his new film, A Man Called Otto, which has involved some of his family members. He produced the film with his wife, Rita Wilson, who also wrote the screenplay and performed an original song in .
Hanks plays the titular Otto in the film, and his son Truman Hanks plays the younger version of Otto in flashback sequences.
“Look, this is a family business,” Hanks says in the video (above), seemingly in response to his son starring in his film. “We’ve been doing this for ages. All of our children grew up with it.”
He added, “If we were a plumbing business or ran the flower shop down the street, the whole family would eventually put in time, even if it was just inventory at the end of the year.”
Although employing family members in your plumbing or flower company would still be a form of nepotism, the actor’s tirade didn’t end there.
Hanks then claimed that thanks to his famous last name, his children didn’t have a career in Hollywood.
Tom Hanks and his son, actor Colin Hanks, in 2009.Dimitrios Kambouris via Getty Images
His son Colin Hanks starred in Fargo and has also appeared in dozens of films including King Kong, Jumanji: The Next Level and The House Bunny. His son Chet Hanks’ work includes roles on the TV shows Shameless and Empire.
“What doesn’t change no matter what, no matter what your last name is, is whether it works or not,” Hanks said.
“That’s always the problem when one of us goes out and tries to tell a new story or create something that has a beginning, a middle and an end. It doesn’t matter what our last names are. We have to do the work to make this a true and authentic experience for the audience.”
Hanks said, “It’s a much bigger task than worrying about whether or not someone is going to try to hurt us.”
Although the cultural discourse surrounding “Nepo babies” is relatively new, actors using the family business excuse are getting quite old.
Zoe Kravitz — the daughter of musician Lenny Kravtiz and actress Lisa Bonet — used the same tactic.
“It’s totally normal for people to be in family businesses,” she told GQ in November.
Kate Hudson, daughter of actor Golden Hawn and step-daughter of actor Kurt Russell, took a similar approach when speaking to The Independent last month.
“I look at my kids and we are a storytelling family. It’s definitely in our blood,” Hudson said.
Maybe these celebrities could take a page out of “Nepo Baby” Allison Williams’ playbook and take on a little responsibility.
The Girls star, the daughter of former NBC journalist Brian Williams, called nepotism “just unfair” in an interview with Vulture published earlier this week.
“Period, end of story, and nobody really works that hard to make it fair,” she told Vulture. “Not recognizing that starting out as an actress isn’t the same as someone with no connections – it’s ridiculous. It doesn’t take away from the work I’ve done. It just means I don’t enjoy cheering as much.”